Rate My Professor Lynette Joubert

Professor Lynette Joubert is Professor of Social Work and Professor - Direct Practice in the Department of Social Work, Melbourne School of Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne. She holds a PhD and a Master of Social Work. With over four decades of experience promoting health and mental health social work, she is an international authority in the field and a leading exponent of practice research in Australia and internationally. As Head of the Practice Research Program in Health and Mental Health, Joubert works closely with partners across the health sector, including NorthWestern Mental Health and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, to support practice improvement, implement research evidence practically, and advance knowledge of chronic disease and mental health issues using a broad range of methodologies. Her research specializations include clinical data mining, suicide prevention, measuring social networks and their impact on health, evidence-based social work practices, social interventions in oncology, palliative care, stroke rehabilitation, and international collaborations.

Joubert originated and academically leads the 5+1 Academic Practitioner Collaboration between the University of Melbourne and five teaching hospitals, as well as the 5+1 Practice Research Model in health social work. She has supervised 47 graduate research theses and fostered international partnerships in the UK, Europe, and South-East Asia. Her work bridges research, policy, and community service, strengthening social work's impact and visibility in health and mental health. In 2014, she led a multi-site Australian social work practice audit across 17 health and mental health services involving 542 social workers, documenting over 10,000 items of activity that underscored social work's roles in therapeutic care, advocacy, interdisciplinary collaboration, discharge planning, and community linkage. She is leading a repeat audit in 2025 with updated tools reflecting contemporary practices like trauma-informed care. Joubert is author or co-author of more than 160 peer-reviewed publications, with over 3,540 citations on Google Scholar. She edited The Routledge Handbook of Social Work Practice Research (2020). Key publications include 'Stroke in rural areas and small communities' (Stroke, 2008), 'A systematic review of types and efficacy of online interventions for cancer patients' (Patient Education and Counseling, 2015), and 'Social work in oncology—Managing vicarious trauma—The positive impact of professional supervision' (Social Work in Health Care, 2013).